


When Harry Was Rescued

by KimpatsuNoHoseki



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 葉問 | Ip Man (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 00:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10752486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimpatsuNoHoseki/pseuds/KimpatsuNoHoseki
Summary: When the Dursleys were forced to take Harry with them to Hong Kong they never expected it to turn out this way.Takes place in Ip Man 2's movie timeline.





	When Harry Was Rescued

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friend and sometimes beta, Bicky Monster, for helping grammatically edit some of the story. Please note that not all of it was beta'd and nothing relating to plot or culture was. 
> 
> This follows the 2nd Ip Man movie with most of the conversations coming straight from movie translations I found (I don't speak Chinese so I worked off of other's translations). Please enjoy and leave kudos and comments at the end.

Ip Man look around at the rooftop he was being shown by his friend Liang Geng, Chief Editor of the local papers, who knew the people who owned the building. He had been searching for a few weeks now and was getting a little desperate. They were starting to run low on money and would need the income from him opening a school, to make ends meet. This was the third location that Geng had shown him and as he looked around, Man decided that it would be a perfect location for his future students to train. Now all he needed were willing students, who would pay tuition. 

Each day while Ip worked on making posters to attract disciples for the rooftop school, a woman from the building would make use of the space to hang laundry to dry. Often Man would sit and share tea with her while the clothes and sheets she cleaned would hang. Sometimes he would even watch the people pass along the street below sometimes buying from the shops that dotted the roadside. 

As Man joined his pregnant wife and young son to gather fresh water one afternoon he noticed a family of foreigners walking by, the older man drawing his attention because of the ruckus he was making. It seemed at first glance to be a Western family of four; the heavy set man, who looked like he hadn’t exercised or missed a meal in his life; his wife, pale and thin; and two boys, one who obviously was starting to take after his father and the other the mother, based on their size. However, the smaller and thinner boy didn’t quite match the parents as well as the other boy. It wasn’t completely unusual to see white men in Hong Kong, but they usually stayed in the wealthier parts of the city, near to the police stations, and didn’t usually have kids or women with them. Man put them out of his mind however, when it became their turn to gather water; it wasn’t his business what Westerners were doing in Hong Kong.

It wasn’t until a month later that Ip finally got his first student to his rooftop school, a young man named Huang Liang, who brought along three of his friends. After fighting each of them in small skirmishes they were more than willing to become his student and learn Wing Chun, a kung fu they had never heard of before. Man was especially happy since now his family could start paying the various rent and school fee debts they owed.

After taking Liang and his three friends on as students it did not take long for others to join. It seemed Liang was good about spreading the word of Man’s school and convincing others to come try. Soon the rooftop space was filled with fifteen students learning Wing Chun. Man had all of them wear loose black pants and white shirts as their uniform for practice, while he taught them in his traditional black pants and tunic. 

One day during training Liang asked him, “Master Ip, do you think you can fight off ten men?”

“The best thing is not to fight at all,” Ip responded, amused at his student’s thought, “continue training.”

“What if they use weapons?” Liang pressed. 

“Run,” was his simple response as he directed Liang back to training. Man hoped that through his teaching Liang would cut back on his fight-first instinct; a peaceful solution was always better. Man believed that you should fight to protect and defend, not to prove you were superior.

As training finished for the day Man made sure to collect tuition from those who could pay, promising those who didn’t have the funds that they could pay another day. 

Later that night, as Man was paying for some cakes for his wife and son as a small gift, a commotion broke out in the street behind him. Turning around, Man was blindsided by the face of a man he thought lost to him, Chow Ching-Chuen. However, it was soon easy to see that Ching-Chuen, despite being alive, would never remember him or how he had helped the Ip family; not after he had been shot in the head by the Japanese. Man learned more about the hardship Ching-Chuen and Chow Kong-Yiu faced each day since the incident and vowed to help Kong-Yiu take care of his father. It’s the least he could do after all the two had done for him over the years. 

His first order of business to help Kong-Yiu was to set him up with a job as a reporter to Geng at the newspaper; who was only too happy to find him a place with his recommendation from Man. 

_________________________________(SCENE CHANGE)___________________________

“I don’t see why we have to come to this heathen country, Vernon.” Petunia sneered as she looked out of the window of room they were staying in. While the hotel was one of the better ones in the city, it was smaller than their house back in England. And while the hotel was in a good part of the city, she often had to deal with little Chinese hooligans running around while she gossipped with the other women in the cafe down the road. 

“I told you, Pet, we were invited to come see Her Majesty’s boxer’s exhibition show. This is a great chance for Dudley to see real boxing in action. While we are here, I am also able to help grow Grunning’s business, which will mean a large pay increase when we return! Just think, if I can get some of these Chinese fools to buy from us, I can get us a new car and you a new wardrobe when we get back,” Vernon gleefully said. “I’m also bringing in a small tax-free profit every time I lend the Boxer’s manager and Police Chief Wallace use of the boy. They have someone to push around and help them in their efforts who won’t ask questions and we, finally, really getting some use out of us keeping him.”

“I suppose that is the only reason we brought him along to this foreign land.” Petunia glanced back into the room where Dudley was ‘practicing’ his boxing on her nephew. She held no love for her sister Lily’s son, who had been forced on them seven years ago when Lily and her freak husband died. The only reason she hadn’t dropped him at the closest orphanage in England was because of the note that Dumbledore guy left, saying they were keeping track of the boy through their freak spells. “Dudders might learn something more useful for the fights he practices on the boy. His primary’s boxing classes don’t seem to be doing much good. They haven’t taught him anything past how to throw a punch.” 

“That’s very true, my dear.” Vernon gave Petunia a quick kiss on her cheek before making his way over to the boys. “Dudley, my boy! I hate to take away your fun but the boy has some jobs to do for Mr Wallace.”

“But father!” Dudley whined as he stopped punching his cousin. “I’m just starting to get the hang of some of the moves you showed me.”

“You can have him back later tonight. He has errands to run that will make us some money,” Vernon stated as he hauled the younger boy off the ground. After a quick glance over his nephew to check for any broken bones, he decided that the few bruises that were showing weren’t going to cause any issue in the long term. The boy knew what to say by now if anyone ever asked him about the bruises. 

“Boy, you are to run down to the station and follow whatever instructions Wallace gives you for the rest of the day. Am I clear? If I hear that you didn’t do something you will get lashings.”

“Yes sir,” the boy stuttered as his uncle shook him to get his message across. As soon as Vernon released him, he hurried to the police station from the hotel, a route he had now travelled many times during their stay. 

_____________________________(SCENE CHANGE)_______________________________

Harry stood in the corner of the Wallace’s office as two Chinese men came in, the policeman Fatso and one of the Kung Fu masters in the city, Master Hung, if Harry remembered correctly. He did his best to remain unnoticed as his fellow countryman was handed a paper sack full of money by Master Hung. 

As Wallace pulled out wads of bills, he asked the Chinamen about the arrangements for the boxing competition. Things seemed to be going well until Master Hung to ask a question that seemed not to go over well. At Wallace’s displeasured dismissal of the man, Harry flinched knowing that once the two left, he would be disciplined in the man’s place. Wallace hated anyone questioning him. Harry hated having to work for these men and his Uncle, and would have gladly taken a chance to run away. However, with them in a foreign country and Harry not knowing how to speak Chinese, his options were very limited. 

“Boy, take this and give it to your Uncle. You are done for the day. I expect you back here tomorrow morning as I have more delivery work for you,” Wallace snapped out at Harry while passing over a wad of bills and a note. The man smacked Harry across the back of his head as he delivered the rest of his message, “I will know if you don’t do this boy and will be doubly cross.” 

“Yes sir,” Harry meekly responded.

“Get out of my sight.” 

Dismissed, Harry hurried from the back room in time to see a few men being released from a cell. Harry did his best to appear small as he shuffled by the front desk and those paying their bail. After getting away with not being beat by Wallace, Harry didn’t want to draw any attention to himself. If he did and a fuss was created, he knew that Wallace would not let him go freely a second time. 

The next day Harry returned to the station as instructed, waiting for his next orders. Not long after he arrived, Harry made his way back out of the station to the first part of his orders, to go down to the fish market and pass a note to Master Hung. If Master Hung wasn’t there, Harry was to find him and not return until he had a response. After not spotting the man at the fish market Harry started making his way to Master Hung’s school. Harry hoped that since Master Hung and his students weren’t at the market working that they would be training and he could watch them until they were finished. While Harry didn’t understand anything the men said, he enjoyed watching them practice their fights, which seemed to consist of blocking attacks and using that opportunity to return a hit.

It took Harry three hours to find Master Hung who had not been at his school either, nor were any of his students and workers. He found him, and other Kung Fu masters at a tea house in what seemed to be a competition. Harry stopped from entering the building and simply watched as a man in a white tunic fought against some of the other Kung Fu masters in the area. After a bit of contemplation Harry figured out that the man was one those who were posted bail when he left the station last night. While he was standing at the door watching, Harry also noticed a young Chinese teen with a camera sneak over to a few windows. 

“He must be a reporter with one of the local papers,” Harry said quietly before looking back into the dining room where the man in white was standing on a table surrounded by upside down stools. 

Watching these practices was one of the few enjoyments Harry had experienced since the Dursley family arrived in Hong Kong a few months ago. Through his work for the police chief, Harry has had the opportunity to visit the various schools around the city as he delivered messages; many times he got away with spending time watching the practices with the excuse of the Masters of the schools being too busy to receive the written notes. 

From what Harry could see, the man in the white tunic had already defeated Master Luo and was now fighting Master Zhang, whose own fight did not last long. Harry was very impressed by the skill the man in white showed and his patience and balance when fighting the masters. 

Harry watched in anticipation as Master Hung jumped onto the table. With Master Hung’s connection to the upcoming boxing match, Harry had been able to see his students’ practice many times but this was the first for him to see Master Hung himself fight. It was hard for Harry to keep up with the fancy footwork and the speed of the men’s fists during the battle. But when the table split in two and both men were able to stay upright on their halfs, Harry couldn’t help but to applaud with the others in the space. Realising that he would draw attention to himself if he wasn’t careful, Harry hurried around the edges of the room to where Master Hung’s students were gathered. When Master Hung retook his seat and drank from a cup of tea, Harry shuffled forward between the students and held out his note. 

“Master Hung, from Mr. Wallace,” Harry murmured to catch his attention. Harry waited patiently while Master Hung read the message written. 

After reading it for a few minutes he turned to the English boy and replied with one of the few words he knew in English, “Yes.” Message delivered Master Hung waved the boy off after giving him a small wrapped sweet from the table and joined in conversation with the other Kung Fu masters in the room. With a nod and smile at receiving the candy, Harry wound his way back through the room and slipped out the door just ahead of the man in white. 

This was the fourth time that Master Hung had given him one of these wrapped candies and Harry quickly popped it into his mouth, hoping to finish it before he reached the station. The first time that Harry had received a candy was in front of Wallace, who calmly explained in English, in order to mask what he was saying in front of the Chinese, that the next time he was offered a sweet he was to ignore it or else he would be given to the Boxing Champion to use for practice. Since then Harry has done his best to only accept and eat the candy when not around other Westerners. It didn’t take long for Master Hung and his students to pick up on this and they started to only offer Harry small things whenever he was alone.

“Master Hung.” Man paused at the door as the boy slipped past and turned back to face the room. He had noticed rather concerning bruises along the boy’s arms and shoulders as the boy moved past him. 

“Yes, Master Ip?”

“Who was that boy?” Man asked. “He moves unlike most children in the city.”

“He is an errand runner for the Westerners while his family is in town. Pay no attention to him, Master Ip,” Master Hung stated, not wanting to bring trouble upon the boy. 

Man silently bowed as he left the tea house, but could not put the boy from his mind. Though young, the boy seemed thinner than normal and moved silently and easily through a throng of people without touching anyone, where most boys would push through and make lots of noise. Man remembered back to when he first caught a glimpse of the boy a few months ago while picking up water with his wife and son. At that time too, something about the boy struck him as different from the other three but he had ignored that, attributing it to his coloring. 

Since the fight, Man paid more attention to the market places looking for signs of the Western boy. Every now and then Man would catch a glimpse of him in the crowds, moving alone. A few times Man watched from afar as the older Westerner and the rest of the family would push the boy around or smack him. Those times, Man wished he knew how to speak a few of their words in order to talk to the boy or at least interfere. As far as he could tell, the boy did nothing to deserve the hits his family seemed to enjoy doling out on him.

____________________________(SCENE CHANGE)________________________________

Harry followed close behind Master Hung, as they headed into the park, where Master Ip was watching over his students. Harry had heard that there had been some fighting the week before between Master Ip's and Master Hung's students, costing the former his rooftop space. As Master Hung sat on a nearby bench, Harry stood slightly behind and leaned against the gate, grateful for the chance at a small rest. The night before, Dudley was given permission to ‘practice’ his boxing on him again, after Harry failed to cook dinner perfectly, and his legs were still smarting from the blows they had received. 

Today, he was tasked with following Master Hung around to the various schools to pass out tickets to the other Masters, for the boxing event coming up. Some of the errands that Wallace sent him on made no sense to Harry, but this one he enjoyed, since he got to visit the Kung Fu masters, who were always nice to him when other Westerners weren’t around. 

Harry and Master Hung watched Master Ip teach his students for a few minutes before Liang realised they were there and directed Master Ip’s attention to them. As the two Masters spoke, Harry continued to watch the few students who kept practicing and only moved closer when he was gestured to do so by Master Hung. With another gesture, Harry handed over a few of the tickets that were then passed to the other Master. After a few more pleasantries between the Chinamen, Master Hung started walking off. Harry bowed to Master Ip and quickly hurried off to follow Master Hung to the last destination, meeting up with Wallace and his family at the site of the boxing match. 

Once at the building, Harry made sure to stay out of the way of Master Hung’s students, who were moving and placing rows of chairs and building the boxing ring. Not long after Master Hung and he arrived, Harry’s uncle and Wallace showed up with the boxer, Twister, and his manager and trainers. 

Harry winced as Twister completely ignored Master Hung and instead threw his coat over Master Hung’s arm as if he were Harry. As Master Hung and the Chinese policeman started talking, Harry scooped in and picked up the jacket and placed it over the back of a chair. When Wallace started yelling at Master Hung about payments and money, Harry slipped back into a corner, hoping that that anger would not be directed his way. When Twister joined in the shouting, Harry moved along the wall, hoping to find a place to hide before anyone decided to turn that anger on him. He just knew that his Uncle would blame him for any issues that cropped up from all of the shouting. And sure enough, Harry wasn’t fast enough to escape from his Uncle’s attention that night. 

____________________________(SCENE CHANGE)________________________________

Harry watched from his spot in the back of the room on the Westerner’s side of the boxing ring as some of Master Hung’s students stood in the ring and showcased a few moves as if it was a normal day of practice. To Harry and the Chinese in the room, it was a great showing of the various forms the students move through when fighting. When Twister arrived, late as usual, and joined his manager and Wallace in the back of the room, Harry hurried to bring the three men fresh tea before backing off to a corner out of the way. After watching the show for a few minutes Twister got cocky and walked towards the ring. 

“Very nice,” Twister said mockingly, once he climbed up into the ring, to the students when they finished among a round of applause. Twister stopped in front of one of the students and smirked.

“Punch me.” Twister commanded to the students still in the ring. One of the students, while far enough away to not land the hit, punched out towards Twister’s chest as commanded. Once he finished the move, the crowd politely applauded.

“Hit me.” Twister commanded annoyed as he grabbed the extended arm and tapped it against his chest, startling the student. After retaking his stance and a glance at Master Hung, the student punched back out and hit Twister, creating a dull thud noise as their bodies connected. Not satisfied Twister ground out, “More power. Come on!” to the cheers of the Western crowd and particularly Dudley. 

As Twister continued to say “Come on” to the student, the Chinaman swung out with his right fist. Twister dodged and punched him back, knocking him to the mat of the ring. As the other student’s split between dragging their fellow out of the way and fighting Twister, the Westerners in the crowd cheered their boxing champion on. Dudley and Vernon going so far as to shout out encouragement. As Twister finished knocking out the students with his punches, the Westerners cheered.

“Now that is power!” Twister shouted out among the cheers from Western side of the room. However, Harry shot a glance to the Chinese in the room and noticed that their anger and disbelief was growing. It was easy to see that none of them were happy with the way that this was going. Taking a look to Master Hung who sat in front of Wallace, Harry could see that he wanted to go up to the ring to help his students like the students of other masters were currently doing. However, after a glance at the Chief, Master Hung was forced to keep his seat. 

“So this is Chinese boxing,” Twister taunted. “You should stick to dancing.” Twister pretended to copy some moves from earlier as the announcer translated what he said to Chinese. Harry was unsurprised when the contingent of Chinese Masters rose up in protest. Trainers hurried into the ring to keep the students back from Twister who would not stop taunting them, their job made harder as more and more students entered the ring in anger. Soon students were attacking the trainers and any that slipped through were knocked down by Twister’s fists. 

Harry watched in dismay as the new Master in the city, Master Ip if he remembered what Master Hung had said correctly, entered the ring to save his student who had been knocked out by Twister. Seeing Master Ip move also led Master Hung to enter the ring and try to stop the students with the other Masters. 

“Boy, what did you do? This is completely your fault. Did you use your freakishness to ruin Twister’s big day?Just wait until we get back tonight. If any of those heathens damage Twister so that he can’t fight, you can bet that you will be matching each injury he receives. For every blow that lands on him, you get two.” Harry startled as Vernon latched onto him. He had not been paying enough attention to their side of the room if his Uncle was able to sneak up on him and grab him before he noticed.

Vernon moved back to his seat dragging Harry. Once there he forced Harry to the ground so that he could keep a closer eye on him, it wouldn’t do for the boy to try and sneak away to avoid punishment. Vernon didn’t want the boy to do any of his funny business to get out of trouble. By this time Masters Ip and Hung were mostly successful in clearing the ring of the students. It didn’t shock Harry, however, when Twister started swinging at Master Ip who skillfully blocked him. Thankfully, before Twister could get too worked up, Master Hung sent a kick at him pushing him back against the ropes and giving others time to back off. Soon the other Masters joined Ip and Hung on stage as Master Hung called over the announcer. 

“If you don’t like our demonstration, you are free to leave.” Master Hung stated for the announcer to translate. “But you’ve caused injuries, you need to apologise.”

“What? Apologise? Is this some stupid Chinese tradition?” Twister scoffed as he walked behind the line of trainers between him and the Chinese. “The winners have to apologise to the losers? If I had to do that I would be apologizing everyday.” 

Twister grabbed the shoulders of two trainers and forced them forward to lean in to Master Hung’s face. “If you want an apology from me old man, you will have to beat me in a fight right now and I’ll apologise.” 

The announcer was quick to translate for the Chinese in the room and soon other Masters were forcing their way forward to stand by Master Hung shouting in Chinese back. Harry hoped that Master Hung would not follow through with Twister’s taunt knowing that any blow the Master lands, Harry would receive that night. 

Unfortunately, with a few words from Master Hung, the Chinese cleared the ring leaving Master Hung alone with Twister and his group. Minutes after everyone settled back down in their chairs Master Hung and Twister faced off in the ring in a proper boxing match. With each landed hit Twister received Harry cringed a little more knowing that Vernon would be keeping count for Harry’s punishment later like he promised. At this point Harry didn’t really care who won as long as it finished quickly. 

Soon however, Harry grew worried over Master Hung. Twister rarely held back on his punches and Harry knew that Master Hung had some sort of illness from the special tea he often drank. When Twister punched Master Hung hard enough to knock him to the floor, Harry had to stop himself from getting to his feet along with the other Chinese in concern. If he could, Harry would have used the freak powers Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia insisted he had to stop the fight and heal Master Hung. But since he couldn’t do anything he was stuck watching on as Twister continued to taunt the Chinese. Harry hoped that Master Hung would not get back up, and believed that the wish would come true until Master Hung stood back up on the count of eight. Harry understood that Master Hung’s Kung Fu pride would not allow him to stay down when he thought he could salvage the damage done by Twister earlier. With great dismay, Harry watched as Master Hung lost the fight with multiple punches to the face from Twister. 

While Wallace and his family watched in joy, Harry could tell that the others in the audience, Westerners and Chinese alike, took no pleasure from the end of the match. Especially when it was announced that Master Hung had died. 

Twister celebrated his win as students of Master Hung jumped into the ring, Harry promised himself that he would light a candle for Master Hung at the local church when they returned to England. That was the least he could do for the man who had tried to help him in little ways since Harry started running errands for Wallace. 

__________________________________(SCENE CHANGE)________________________________________

A few days after the competition, Harry snuck out from the hotel room while his family were out shopping in the early evening. Based on Uncle Vernon’s conversation with Aunt Petunia before they left the three of them would be joining Wallace, Twister, and Twister’s group of trainers for dinner that night. This was the perfect chance for Harry to go to Master Hung’s funeral that Fatso had quietly told him about earlier that day. 

Quickly he made his way down the street to where Master Hung’s school was. The school was decked out in funeral decorations and Harry hid himself behind a pillar to watch as people paid their respects. After watching a few of the students pay their respect to Master Hung’s picture and family, Harry watched silently as Master Ip passed him and approached the dais. 

Following along, Harry bowed at the same time as Master Ip towards the front of the building and again towards the family when Master Ip turned to them. Knowing that that was the best he could do at this time for the Chinaman who was kind to him despite the fact that he was a foreigner who only brought him messages from the man who took money from him. 

Harry knew that the Chinese held little love for his fellow countrymen and most would ignore Harry when he was walking through the markets. However, Master Hung, his students, and the other schools of Kung Fu would always offer him tea, crackers, or candy while he ‘waited’ for the students to finish practice so that he could deliver whatever message he was sent with. Master Hung was especially good most recently at finding little reasons for Harry to be delayed to give him time to rest away from his family and Wallace. 

The next few days after the funeral were hard on Harry as Vernon and Wallace took their anger over the news headlines out on him. As each new story was printed, Wallace’s hold over the police department grew shaky. Titles such as ‘Master Hung of Hung Style School Killed in a Western Boxing Match’ and ‘Western Boxer Kills Chinaman in Fight’ soon became commonplace in the various newspapers and new bruises became more noticeable along his arms and neck. Uncle Vernon and Wallace no longer seemed to care if anyone would ask questions about his bruises as they become more concerned with how the general populace viewed them. It was difficult for Vernon’s business dealings, especially when one of the photos being circulated in the papers clearly showed Vernon, Dudley, and Petunia watching the match with grins as Twister was dealing the final punch to Master Hung. Vernon was having a hard time getting the Chinese to finalise the deals with his company.

_______________________________(SCENE CHANGE)_____________________________________

Harry reluctantly trailed behind Wallace and a few of his policemen as they moved through the station towards the cells. Harry watched from next to Fatso’s desk as Wallace entered a cell and started to attach one of the men inside, stating it was in retaliation for ‘messing with’ him. Knowing recent events and that Wallace had been called in by a superior to fix the damage caused by the newspapers, Harry could guess that this was either a reporter or owner of a local paper. 

Harry wasn’t sure who exactly the Chinaman was but could easily empathize with his pain at being hit with Wallace’s staff, Wallace’s method of choice when dealing out ‘punishment’ to Harry recently for any perceived wrong. Dudley and Vernon tended to stick with their fists or belt which caused less and easier to hide damage. Harry winced when Wallace started to beat the man’s fist. When Fatso stepped into the cell and stopped Wallace from doing any more damage, Harry breathed a small sign in relief, glad that the man wouldn’t be hurt anymore. 

As Wallace stomped back to his office, Harry took the chance to stay where he was. Once a few minutes passed without him being called for, Harry ran out of the police station to wander the streets for a few hours. Uncle Vernon would not be expecting him back until after dinner today, so Harry hoped that he could use this time to visit some of the schools and watch student’s practice. And, hopefully, Wallace will forget about him until tomorrow so that this little jaunt would not increase his current punishments. 

___________________________(SCENE CHANGE)________________________________

“There have been a lot of rumors in Hong Kong recently. This is due to a boxing competition that had been arranged. Unfortunately, a Chinese boxer rather over estimated himself and challenged our champion. Twister reluctantly accepted the challenge and although he held back during the fight, unfortunately, the Chinese boxer was so weak that he couldn’t stand up to Twister’s fists. And after a few punches, he tragically died. We are sorry for this regrettable accident.” Wallace stated mechanically in front of a room of press agents. Harry watched from the sidelines as both foreign and local press jotted down notes and took pictures of the hastily put together press conference.

“In order to give Twister justice, I have decided to organize a Chinese-Western boxing competition. Twister will fight the Chinese people in a fair manner on the stage.” Twister’s manager continued. 

“In order to protect my name and reputation, I have agreed to fight any Chinese person.” Twister shouted out. “Now from what I hear, the Chinese like to use these and I would like to stick to that tradition!” He exclaimed as a trainer pulled out an oversized incense stick, similar to the incense that Harry saw being used at the funeral but 100 times larger. 

“So I have agreed to fight any challenger for as long as this thing burns,” Twister continued, gesturing to the stick the trainer placed on the table in an incense stand. “And this is a pretty big yard stick so it will give plenty of opportunity to any challenger to come forward. But be warned! I will not hold back. By the time this thing has burned to the end there will be no more Chinese boxers because I will have killed them all! In fact, I don’t even think we will need to use this thing because I doubt there is any Chinese fella that has the guts to get in the ring with me.” Twister boasted doubting anyone would challenge him after the last fight.

Harry did his best to hide his derision of Twister’s egotism knowing that any showing of disgust towards the men at the table would find its way back to his Uncle; giving him even more bruises than what he gained after the match. When Master Ip entered the press room however, Harry’s attention was pulled from the front to watch as Master Ip made his way before the panel. To Harry’s surprise and great concern Master Ip then proceeded to take Twister’s challenge. While Harry had no doubt that Master Ip would last longer than Master Hung had from the various practices Harry was able to watch here and there over the last month, Harry really hoped that Master Ip did not end up as Master Hung.

________________________________(SCENE CHANGE)___________________________________

Harry, after many failed attempts, finally found time to be alone with Fatso and ask his help in writing a note in Chinese. Fatso, knowing what trouble the boy could get in for this, was at first reluctant to do so but finally gave in once Harry explained what it was for. Fatso was happy to help Harry in his plans to get one over on Wallace and his uncle who Fatso had been blocked multiple times from arresting for disturbing the peace. 

The next day, when Vernon sent him on an errand to stock up on food, Harry slipped through the crowds in search for Master Ip or any of his students. After almost an hour of searching, Harry finally was directed to Master Ip’s residence by a kind woman carrying a basket full of laundry. Quietly, Harry checked that no Westerner was around to see him enter the house before he let himself into the unlocked building. Inside Harry found Master Ip practicing against a wooden dummy, hands flowing in practiced motions that he had been teaching his students. Harry waited until it looked like Master Ip was done practicing for the day before approaching. 

“Master Ip,” Harry stated to grab his attention. Man turned around in surprise having not heard anyone enter the room. He took in the boy in front of him, the same boy he had been watching curiously the last few months. The boy whom Master Hung had briefly mentioned as being trapped in the employ of the police Superintendent Wallace by his uncle. His confusion and concern grew the longer he looked at the boy and started cataloging all of the bruises he could see littered down the boy’s arms and around his neck. Man was sure that the baggy clothing hanging off the boy’s thin frame hid more. It took him a moment to realise that the boy was holding out a note to him. 

Silently, Man took the note from the boy who had started to shift in nervousness. After reading the note in Chinese twice Man reached out cautiously and patted the boy on his head. With a quick bow and a smile Harry quietly made his way back out of the house. 

_______________________________(SCENE CHANGE)____________________________

People streamed into the large hall that was set up for the match between Twister and Master Ip one week after the press conference. Harry stayed against the wall near where Vernon and Wallace were located, knowing that if he wasn’t within reach and easy command that his uncle would not hold back from punishing him in this room in front of people. Vernon was in a horrible mood because his ‘in the bag’ deal that he had been boasting about last month was canceled by the owners of the Chinese company he had been trying to deal with. From what Harry could gather, the owner took offense to Vernon’s continued support of the man who killed his son’s Kung Fu master. 

Harry watched as press agents started reporting through the radio as the last person entered the room. The same announcer as the first match soon took to the ring to make announcements in both English and Chinese. 

“Ladies and Gentleman, and now for the long awaited Chinese-Western Boxing tournament! Please give a roaring welcome to the undisputed champion of the world, the Twister!!” Twister entered the room carrying the Union Jack among cheers from the Westerners in the audience.

“Remember Dudley, that is what a true champion looks like. Keep practicing your boxing and you too will stand on that stage.” Vernon stated as he clapped Dudley on his back before bursting out in laughter as Master Ip moved to the center of the ring ready to start and was directed back to his corner by the referee. 

After a few more minutes to allow the crowd to settle back down, the referee called both of them to the center. 

“Gentlemen, I want a clean fight,” the referee started. “When I say fight, fight. When I say break, break. You have to follow my instructions at all times. Is that clear?”

“I can finish you off with two punches.” Twister stated before the referee directed them back to their corners of the ring. 

The crowd roared in excitement as the referee started the match. Twister was quick to start tossing punches, most Man was able to dodge. Soon Man went from dodging to blocking and making a few punches of his own. However, as he was picked up and tossed about the ring he found that he had trouble finding his balance. While trying to reorient himself to face Twister, Man was punched across the jaw making the referee call a break before starting his knockout count. Harry grew concerned the longer Master Ip stayed down and silently cheered when he got back up during the count of seven, fully up by nine. 

The second go through saw Man on the offensive managing to knock Twister down for seven counts after a series of quick jabs. Twister, not taking that well, quickly went back in and got in another knockdown before round one was called. 

Both men returned to their corners to be checked on before round two started. Harry was impressed by the series of fast hits Master Ip was able to deliver followed by a swift kick between Twister’s defending arms. As the Westerner crowded boo’d in dismay over the fighting because Twister was losing, Harry did his best to contain his excitement at Master Ip’s luck. His excitement continued until the bell for the end of the round rang and Twister, ignoring the ring, threw a punch at Master Ip knocking him down. Harry wanted to join in with the Chinese in their anger at the unfair play. 

“That is how you win my boy!” Vernon cheered at the hit. “Make every second count in these matches and slip one in at the end.”

At the start of round three the referee informed Man that, “According to a decision by the judges, kicking is prohibited in this match. If you don’t agree you will forfeit the match and Twister will be announced the winner. Is that clear?” Harry watched in concern at the announcement, knowing from the times he was able to watch practices that banning kicking would be a huge handicap. Twister wasted no time in making use of that handicap too by pressing forward with a series of hard punches to Man’s face, reminiscent of the fight he had with Master Hung.

When Master Ip stood back up, Harry could tell that a shift had happened. Master Ip was fighting with a renewed goal. Harry’s guess was that he was remembering what happened in the last match and planned on changing the outcome. This thought was cemented even more when Harry noticed that Master Ip followed a sequence of moves that Master Hung had made, but was more successful in having them make contact. A last series of punches from Master Ip saw Twister down for the count. As Chinese rushed the ring in joy Harry couldn’t contain his excitement and let out a cheer before he could stop himself. 

Thankfully his cheer went unnoticed as Vernon got distracted by Wallace standing up and moving to leave the room. This move was quickly countered by Fatso, another Englishman, and a troop of Hong Kong police behind him who arrested Wallace and led him from the hall. Vernon, seeing his one link to get the family back home and the access to the rest of his money being arrested, was about to move himself and Dudley out when he noticed a few of the police take up positions by the door. Instead he settled back down and hoped that he could sneak out when everyone left. Afterall, if Wallace was being arrested Vernon’s dealings with him and the profits he had made in the betting pools would see him in jail right next to him. 

“He says he didn’t come here today to prove which is better, Chinese or Western boxing. Although people have different status in life, he doesn’t believe that one person’s integrity is worth more than another’s. He hopes that we can start to respect each other.” The announcer translated as Master Ip spoke drawing everyone’s attention back to the ring. Man and the announcer were facing the Westerner side of the audience. While confused at the last part of the message Man stated in Chinese, the announcer translated it as well. “He also says that one should not hit in anger or as punishment, only in training and defense. In China, we do not abuse children.” 

Man looked over the confused Westerner audience until he found the boy. Making eye contact he waved the boy over to him. Harry was unsure how this part of the plan would go. With a steadying breath, Harry stepped out from behind his uncle and made his way through the chairs as people stared at him and the bruises he was supporting, which were easily seen since he had made sure to wear one of his smaller shirts so that the baggy sleeves wouldn’t hide anything. Once he reached the ring, Man gestured for one of his students to help the boy up. When Harry turned around to face the crowd, he could see shock, disgust, and confusion on many faces; but a quick glance at his uncle showed a face full of hatred, promising pain the next time Vernon got his hands on him. 

It didn’t take long for Fatso to direct the other Hong Kong police in arresting Vernon and taking Dudley into custody. Harry calmly watched from the stage as the two were led out in loud protest which only served to condemn them more as they shouted abuse at where Harry was standing in the ring. Harry turned when Master Ip placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to walk towards the other side of the ring, the two quickly swallowed up by Man’s students on stage moving to hide them from the Western audience. 

“Master Ip! Master Ip!” Reporters called out, “what do you want to do now?”

“I want to go home.” Ip replied tiredly. 

“What about the boy?” Another reporter asked gesturing to where Harry stood at Man’s side silently.

“He will be going with me and learn to live here and practice defense so that he will never be in that situation again.” Ip replied turning to move back to his area. 

“Is it true that he was abused Uncle Ip?” Kong-Yui asked from his place in the crowd. In truth Man had talked to Geng and Kong-Yui the night before about his plans and the letter the boy had brought him. Kong-Yui, however asked the question to make sure that other papers also wrote about it in their reports. Anything to help disgrace the Westerners right now would see an increase in paper sales. Geng and Kong-Yui already had a report written up that would be joining tomorrow’s paper about the bruises seen on the boy over the last few months with quotes from various Kung Fu students from the different schools. That news piece and the report Fatso had filed at the station would help ensure that Man got custody of the boy here in Hong Kong. And if the boy never left the country, then there was no reason for anyone to try and challenge the custody. 

Sure enough, as Harry left the building with Master Ip and his students none of the Westerners moved to stop them, too shocked at the turn of events at the end of the match to do anything. Harry followed behind the man as Master Ip ran through the streets back to his family not sure why the man was running after winning the fight. However, Harry quickly slowed when they came in sight of Master Ip’s wife, son, and a newborn in the square in front of their house. 

As Master Ip reunited with his family, Harry was prepared to disappear. While Master Ip had done his part in rescuing him, surely he wouldn’t want to be bothered by a boy who couldn’t speak his language when he had a newborn baby. Before he could slip away though, Master Ip gestured Harry forward and explained to his wife about the boy and that he didn’t know Chinese so she would have to be patient with him. With a little reservation, Ip’s wife gladly took the boy into their family. 

“I guess we have three boys to learn Wing Chun from you then and one to teach Chinese to.”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Author’s Note~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone! 

First off: Thank you for reading to the end. Kudos and Comments are greatly appreciated. 

Second: Sorry to everyone waiting on my other WIP stories that I should have been working on instead. This idea hit me in January and wouldn’t let me go. So between this, work, traveling for a wedding, and work I haven’t been able to get anything done on those stories. I hope that since this is now finished I can shift focus back to those two WIPs. 

Third: I debated sharing this story since the main fandom has a small group of stories and most of those are in Chinese. I realise that most of my normal readers would not know about the Ip Man fandom and probably didn’t get much out of this story. Thank you again to those that have read to the end! I hope that you enjoyed the story and as a non-Chinese person and someone not familiar with that culture, I hope that I didn’t mess anything up too much.


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